Per the press release put out by Fastlane with this news, IQCard was established last March as a joint project of Fastlane and Direct Group. The purpose of the card is to enable any individual to use IQcards, which are pre-paid cards, without having an open bank account. Instead of using a traditional bank account, users can manage their money through an “internet bank” as well as analyze their expenses and pay for purchases internationally and online.

Though not necessarily direct competitors, NetSpend and Green Dot are established services which IQcard attempts to largely replicate on the Russian market.

A few weeks ago, we did a post about MOBI.money, a service which allows users to make payments and transfer money with their mobile phone accounts. IQcard seems to be founded on largely the same principle. The business is different, but the idea is that people should be able to access their money more easily and without having to go through a bank.Tweet

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Natasha Starkell

TwitterLinkedInFacebook Google+ Natasha Starkell is the founder and CEO of GoalEurope, advisory firm focusing on technology investment and software development in Russia and Eastern Europe. Prior to starting GoalEurope she has worked in the field of finance, mergers and acquisitions, corporate strategy and offshore outsourcing at Unisys Corporation in Switzerland and United Kingdom. She has an MBA degree from London Business School. She speaks Russian, English and German. She lives in Northern Germany.